The Blue Exchange
by NikaylaSarae
Summary: Of all the things Saguru expected to find upon coming back to Japan after accidentally getting dyed blue while on a case in London, having Kuroba Kaito offer to help return his appearance to normal wasn't one of them. -Takes place after the events in An Expression of Gratitude but you don't need to read that fic to enjoy this one.
1. Chapter 1

Saguru never thought that he would be relieved to open the door to 2B's classroom at Ekoda High and see that Kuroba had somehow managed to prank the entire class.

But he was.

Everywhere he looked color assaulted his eyes. Reds, Greens, Kuroba's favorite shade of Pink, Purples, and of course, thankfully, Blue.

The place looked like a tye-dye bomb explosion, and Saguru found himself relaxing for the first time since he'd fallen into a giant dye vat while attempting to capture a suspected thief at London's largest Textile Factory a week ago.

Here. Here, he could actually blend in for a little while and not worry about his appearance somehow making the papers or getting stared at everywhere he went as his currently blue complexion wouldn't be considered at all out of the ordinary when one Kuroba Kaito was present. Especially when all of his fellow classmates, with the exception of Kuroba himself, were also dyed different colors of the rainbow. Though none of them had their skin or hair the exact same shade of blue as Saguru's.

Even if Kuroba hadn't decided to do a class wide prank, his KID suspect had singled him out often enough that Saguru showing up to school dyed blue wouldn't have caused much comment beyond condolences from his classmates.

After all, it was well known that he wasn't well liked by KID's 'number one fan.'

In all the chaos, it wasn't surprising that Kuroba was the first to notice his late arrival to class. The magician was in the middle of a handstand on top of a desk when he caught sight of the British Detective standing in the doorway, and Saguru had the pleasure of seeing the briefest of cracks in his mask.

A slight widening of his eyes, the tiniest of wobbles in his balance, showed his surprise at his appearance before Kuroba twisted, landing upright on the floor, his usual smirk in place. He snapped his fingers, covering Saguru briefly in a cloud of smoke before he could react.

"Hakuba." He gleefully stated, giving a performer's bow as the smoke cleared and Saguru glanced down to see what the magician had done to him this time.

A wave of relief washed through him upon seeing that only his white shirt had been switched out for a blue one.

He had honestly expected him to do worse considering the state of the rest of their class.

Kuroba raised an eyebrow, spreading his hands. "I didn't know you were feeling blue-"

"BAKAITO!" Aoko yelled, her usual uniform replaced with a bright pink dress that perfectly matched her dyed hair as she swung her mop at him. "What did you do to Hakuba-kun?"

Kuroba snickered, dodging the mop with ease. "Same thing as everyone else in case you hadn't noticed, Ahoko. Now his outward appearance matches his damp personality." He back-flipped as she stabbed the mop at him, somehow ending up in the corner on the ceiling out of her reach.

Wait.

Saguru quickly smoothed out his features to hide his surprise as he moved to sit at his desk.

Was Kuroba actually taking credit for his blue state?

Why-why would he do tha-Kuroba had nothing to do with him being blue!

After all, he had come straight to school from the airport. A delay in his flight meaning that Saguru had arrived almost two hours later than he'd originally planned-and no one in Japan had been aware he'd be returning today, especially since he'd ended his vacation earlier than expected.

So why would Kuroba choose to pretend that he had just barely dyed him? Why not point out to the rest of the class that Saguru had somehow turned himself blue without Kuroba's or, he supposed, KID's interference?

It didn't make sense.

Sure, he didn't expect his classmates to know what had happened in London as somehow Saguru had managed to avoid being noticed by the press in London thanks in part to the efforts of the police department in keeping his involvement in the case on the down low so no one knew what had happened at the Factory beyond the thief getting caught.  
And yet-

"Is that why you didn't use Pink this time around?" Saguru asked offhandedly as he pulled his books from his bag and placed them on the desk, cautiously testing to see if Kuroba was actually choosing to take the blame for his blue skin and hair.

Usually his classmate favored that bright color when it came to him. So it would have made more sense for him to use that rather than blue.

Saguru tensed in his seat as Kuroba landed on top of his desk, grinning like the Cheshire Cat as he met his eyes.

Crap.

Had he just given the magician the idea to turn him Pink?! It was bad enough he was dyed blue in the first place, but if Kuroba decided to use his own dyes on him-Saguru couldn't imagine what the end result of that would be. Well, beyond likely never looking normal ever again.

"I thought I'd branch out a bit today. I do that every blue moon or so." Kuroba winked and vanished to his own seat two rows over as Aoko's mop slammed down on the spot he'd just been crouching on. "Mah mah, Aoko," he complained, waving a hand around vaguely, ignoring how half the class flinched at the movement. "You're so violent today, you don't need to beat me black and blue over this."

"Kaito." She growled, staring daggers at her childhood friend. "Undye Hakuba-kun! He just returned from London. Give him a break before you start pranking him again."

Kuroba lazily stretched in his seat before flipping over his desk to the aisle as Aoko advanced. "Why should he? Hakuba had plenty of prank-free time there."

The glimmer in his eyes as he raised an eyebrow to Saguru suggested he knew otherwise. And while it wasn't surprising that Kuroba may have kept tabs on him while he was out of the country and therefore unavailable for any KID heists...it seemed rather unusual for his KID suspect to know of this particular situation considering the circumstances.

"Hakubaka could use a bit of color in his life. I mean." The magician gestured to him. "At least people can see him coming now when he's going to rain on their parades."

Saguru shook his head. While it hadn't been a result of a prank, his blue complexion hardly meant he'd been relaxing while back in London. "Aoko-san, it's fine." He said, drawing her attention back to him. "It's not like I haven't experienced this particular issue from Kuroba-kun before." Seventy-eight times before to be exact, though not all of those had been in class. Some had been at KID's heists as well. He ran a hand through his blue hair, his shoulders tensing again. "It will wash out easily enough once I return home."

If only that was true. Kuroba's colors faded after a week if he was unable to find the right solution to the dye. Neither his or KID's concoctions were meant to be permanent.

However, this particular job wasn't either's doing and his skin had stayed this same shade of blue after multiple showers in every solution Saguru could think of. At this point, he was nearly certain he'd scrubbed his skin raw for nothing.

He looked up in time to see Kuroba erasing the traces of concern from his face, instead choosing to grin back at the detective. "Maybe, maybe not." He teased. "Perhaps this time it will be permanent."

Saguru flinched despite himself and Kuroba's eyes grew more piercing

"That…" Saguru drew a steadying breath, aiming for a more neutral tone. "That would make further pranks rather boring if I'm always the same color, Kuroba-kun." He managed to retort.

"True, true." Kuroba mused aloud, dancing away from Aoko once more. "It would limit my options."

"How about you make the choice to return us all to normal?" Aoko demanded, lowering her mop in favor of pulling her pink hair out of it's bun. It had already half fallen out anyways. "That would be different."

Kuroba pouted. "But Hakuba just got here!" he whined.

"And he's probably tired, Bakaito."

Kuroba rolled his eyes. "Blue hair doesn't affect his ability to sleep, Ahoko."

"Nor my ability to learn." Saguru cut in. It wouldn't do any good anyways. Kuroba would be able to undo his own prank, but that would still leave him fully blue. With everyone else colored like the rainbow...it did help him feel a bit more at ease here. He flipped open his book to the chapter they were covering today, and froze, barely masking his surprise at seeing a single slip of paper laying there.

**After School. My Place. **

Simple. Concise. No way to directly implicate Kuroba had been the one to place it there-Saguru barely stopped himself from looking to his KID suspect. How had-it had to have been when the magician jumped on his desk, but how had he known exactly where in the book to slip his message so Saguru would see it?

He swallowed, looking to Aoko instead and offered her a placating smile as he slipped the strip of paper into his pocket. "I'm fine Aoko-san. I promise."

"See!" Kuroba grinned in a near echo of KID's smile. "No need to make yourself blue in the face over something you can't change, Aoko. Hakuba's already done it for you."

Saguru drew in a shaky breath, unclenching his fingers from around his pen as he forced himself to look at the board where their teacher, dressed all in yellow, was attempting to draw the classes' attention back to the topic at hand.

If only Kuroba knew just how permanent his blue state was-was that why the magician wanted to meet with him after school? To find out? Saguru pursed his lips together, daring to glance at his classmate from the corner of his eye.

What exactly was Kuroba plotting?


	2. Chapter 2

Despite spending the entire school day blending in with his equally colorful peers thanks to Kuroba's antics, Saguru was more than relieved to slide into the back of Baaya's car where the tinted windows gave him enough privacy that he could drop his careful, neutral, uncaring attitude and let out a long sigh, running his fingers through his blue hair.

"Long day, Botchama?" Baaya asked from the front as she turned on the engine.

"And getting longer." He said, looking up to meet her concerned eyes in the rearview mirror. "I need to-"

"To go to Kuroba-kun's home." She said with a nod. "I do remember your call today at lunch." She raised an eyebrow at him.

Call? He'd made no such call-Kuroba. Saguru exhaled, fishing his phone out of his pocket to check his call history. Sure enough, _someone_ had used his phone to contact her in the middle of their lunch break. "Of course. Apologies, Baaya. As you said...it's been a long day."

She made a noise of concern, eyeing him. "Perhaps you should delay your meet up then until after you get some res-"

Saguru shook his head, slipping his phone back into his pocket and closed his eyes as he leaned back, relaxing as the car pulled away from the school. "I'll be fine, Baaya. I've gone with less sleep before."

And he had to admit, he was growing more curious. First the note. Now the phone call...a backup measure just in case he didn't see the original message? Why risk it? Why be so-bold?

It didn't make any sense.

Why would Kuroba want to meet with him? There had been no need-for well, any of this. For pretending that he was the one to dye him blue. For ensuring that Saguru wasn't the sole focus of gawking stares from his peers for the day.

While it hadn't been unwelcomed...it definitely was out of character for his KID suspect.

Especially when today could only be considered a small reprieve. He was still no closer to getting the dye out of his skin and with Kuroba periodically changing the rest of their classmates back to normal before school let out...it meant that tomorrow-

Saguru grimaced, fingers clenching on the seat as Baaya slowed at a light before turning right, taking them the opposite direction from their home.

Tomorrow he'd be the only one in his class still blue.

It probably would cause some raised eyebrows, but not much comment for maybe the next day or two. After all, Kuroba did target him with tricks and pranks that took time for him to get rid of.

But the longer he went without returning to normal...the more likely it would be that the truth would get out about-

"Botchama? We're here."

Saguru slowly opened his eyes, taking in the house before him, not at all surprised they'd arrived so quickly. He knew that Aoko-san and Kuroba walked to school, hence they would have to live close by.

But he, himself, hadn't come here since he first pegged Kuroba as his most likely KID candidate.

Saguru had considered doing so after the incident at the heist where he'd ended up in a brief coma, but it hadn't felt right to disturb Kuroba on his turf. Not when they weren't quite...friends...and not quite enemies anymore either.

Baaya turned in her seat, giving him a studying look. "Do you need me to wait?"

Saguru glanced around the neighborhood to ensure no one was about before he opened the door. "I'm not sure how long I will be." He said slipping out, offering her a tight smile. He didn't know what Kuroba wanted with him or why he said to meet here. At his place. It was just...odd. Odd for his KID suspect. Kuroba had never wanted him near his house before. "I'll give you a call when I'm ready."

She nodded, a crease forming between her eyes as she looked to the house. "Do be careful, Botchama." She cautioned.

"Of course." He said, shutting the door, rubbing the scars on his right arm as he quickly headed for the front door before anyone could see his blue complexion, wary for any...traps that may be waiting for him.

Just because the house looked like any other normal home on the block didn't mean it actually was safe for him to approach it in a normal manner.

In retrospect, Saguru exhaled as he paused on the doorstep. He had no idea if Kuroba was even home. After all, school had barely been out fifteen minutes, surely it wasn't enough time for him to get-

The door opened just as he raised his hand to knock, revealing Kuroba already out of his school uniform and wearing a simple maroon long-sleeved shirt and pants.

Good news. Kuroba didn't look surprised to see him. So he'd been correct in assuming the message and phone call were from him, though how he'd gotten home and changed so quickly was a question Saguru doubted the magician would answer should he ask it. Had he run? Left school early to hide any potential evidence?

Kuroba raised an eyebrow to Saguru's hand before his eyes flickered to the street behind him, taking in Baaya's car and the neighborhood before he took a step back, gesturing for him to come inside. "You gonna stand there all day like some sort of garden gnome?"

More good news. With his skin dyed currently as it was, there was no way Kuroba would be able to see him flush even though Saguru could feel his cheeks burning. "Are you actually inviting me inside?" He asked, dropping his hand. As much as he wanted to get out of sight-he couldn't believe that his KID suspect was actually letting him enter his home like this.

Kuroba smirked, though his eyes held a careful caution to them, his shoulders a hair higher than they'd been seconds before. "Yes? It's not like I have anything to hide from you Mr. Detective." He said, turning his back on Saguru and heading deeper inside. "Don't bother with the guest shoes though, I don't need them changing colors."

Saguru made a face, shutting the door behind him and toeing off his shoes before he cautiously followed his classmate deeper into the house. If this situation had occurred in the first thirty-six hours of him being rescued from the vat, Kuroba would have had a valid concern. But his clothes had stopped turning blue from the excess dye coming off his skin before the second day was through.

He'd expected Kuroba to guide him into the living room or else the kitchen where there would be less of a chance of him coming across anything incriminating, but the magician darted up the stairs with a simple "Come on," tossed over his shoulder.

Saguru stopped at the bottom of the staircase, frowning as he looked about the house. Why did he feel like he was walking into some sort of trap? Surely Kuroba wouldn't actually let a detective intent on catching KID into his inner doma-

"Dude, I don't have all day. Get up here." Kuroba's voice echoed down the stairs.

"Forgive me for being skeptical of your intentions, Kuroba-kun." Hakuba said, warily climbing the steps.

A soft laugh reached his ears. "Like I said, Hakubaka I have nothing to hide."

So why invite him inside now of all times? Why not months earlier? Why not the first time he'd come snooping around? Saguru ran his fingers along the scars on his arm. Surely their talk at the ferris wheel hadn't changed that much between them...right? While there had been miniscule adjustments in their dynamic since then, he hadn't considered it enough to warrant this current meeting.

Unsure what to expect as he topped the stairs, Saguru paused once more, taking in the small details of a section of the house he'd never expected to see without a warrant.

Kuroba was waiting for him, leaning against the wall by a door that more than likely led to his bedroom. His arms were crossed, eyes intent on Saguru. "Alright, out with it. What actually happened to you?"

Saguru raised an eyebrow. All this intrigue...for a question? Kuroba could have asked him at school easily enough. "I thought that was obvious." What wasn't obvious was why Kuroba waited until they were upstairs to ask him.

Kuroba rolled his eyes, fingers twitching on his arm as he leaned forward. "Let me rephrase then, tell me how you ended up looking like a blueberry."

Saguru grimaced, running a hand through his hair, careful to maintain eye contact with his classmate. It was probably only fair that he knew the truth, since the magician had covered for him at school today. Still… he didn't like- "While in London I was assigned to help the police there track down a man who was stealing recipes for creating certain specialized colors within a well known textile company." He recited. "When I discovered the potential identity of the thief and that he was working at one of their factories I went and confronted him. He took off along the catwalks and I gave chase, but I-" Saguru broke eye contact, instead focusing on a small hallway table that held a vase of red roses. "I ended up falling into a large vat of cobalt dye when I rounded a corner too fast and fell over the railing."

"You...fell."

Again, Saguru thanked the Gods that Kuroba couldn't see how red his face had to be getting. It was an embarrassing situation as it was. He didn't really need to give his classmate more fodder for his teasing and pranks at school. "Yes and the thief shut the vat's lid on me before I could escape."

Complete darkness. Unable to get more than a tenuous handhold on a single weathered rung. His right arm still hadn't recovered its full strength, even with the past couple of months of physical therapy, to be able to pull him up any higher to reach the lid and push it open.

He'd been stuck waiting, clinging to the side of the vat filled with dye. Waiting for the thief or a worker to turn it on and kill him from the heat without ever knowing he'd been trapped inside.

A shiver went down his spine. There had been no reason for the police to come looking for him there. Not with the walls of the vat too thick for him to be heard if he screamed.

He drew in a shaky breath. Yet...somehow, they had found him. "It took an officer fifty-three minutes to find me and help me out after they caught him."

An officer he'd never gotten a chance to thank. Didn't even know his name. Saguru had been too focused on grabbing the man's arm and getting out of the vat and back to safety. By the time he'd recovered his senses, the officer had vanished and he hadn't been at the police station when Saguru had come to file his statement and see the textile thief locked up.

"And I've looked like this ever since."

Saguru flinched as Kuroba unexpectedly took his left arm, avoiding the right like he'd been doing since the accident at the heist.

He hadn't realized the magician had moved closer to him.

Kuroba pushed up the sleeve to rub his thumb over his blue skin, a contemplative look on his face. "Textile dye huh." He mumbled.

He knew that look. Knew what Kuroba had to be thinking. "It's not like you can fix it, Kuroba-kun." He said, shaking his head. Why would he even want to? "This isn't like yours or KID's dyes where a bit of baby powder, vinegar, or lemon juice will wash it all out."

Kuroba smirked, tugging him towards the open door halfway down the hallway. "You already tried all that?"

"I've tried _everything_." He said, following his classmate to what looked like an ordinary bedroom...with the exception of a giant portrait of a magician hanging on the wall. Saguru frowned, but tore his attention away from it to focus on Kuroba. Thanks to all the pranks he'd had to endure over the past year and a half from him, Saguru had quite the arsenal of potential fixes to try. "_Nothing_ works. Kuroba-kun." He pulled his arm free, gesturing to himself. "I'm still as blue as when they pulled me out and that's been a week ago now."

Kuroba rubbed his fingers together, a mischievous gleam to his eyes as he gave another not-quite KID grin. "Not everything."


	3. Chapter 3

Of all the ways Saguru expected to spend his first afternoon back in Japan, sitting on a mat in Kuroba Kaito's bedroom while his number one KID suspect carefully smeared a dozen different creams onto his arm to 'test' potential cures would never have occurred to him.

It left him feeling... conflicted.

Because on the one hand...with nothing to do but sit there, Saguru was quite free to look around his bedroom and take advantage of this excellent opportunity to snoop for concrete evidence that Kuroba was indeed KID.

But on the other hand, Kuroba was going out of his way to help him with no obvious ulterior motive that he could see-Saguru frowned, running his eyes over the room again. Wait a minute. Why wasn't-

"Would you quit fidgeting?"

Saguru jerked his eyes back to Kuroba who was glowering at him, a gel like substance in his hands, hovering half a centimeter over his arm. He ducked his head slightly, again feeling his cheeks heat up. "Apologies, Kuroba-kun. My mind wandered from the task at hand."

Kuroba raised an eyebrow. "Wandered? To what?"

Like it would be a good idea to explain that he'd been looking for evidence of a connection between Kuroba and KID. He shrugged a shoulder. "It's nothing."

Kuroba rolled his eyes, placing the gel above the six lines of cream already on Saguru's arm. "You might as well tell me what you're thinking, Hakuba. I can see it eating at you."

Saguru shook his head, fully regretting looking over the room in the first place. "It would not be polite, Kuroba-kun. Since you are helping me."

Kuroba scoffed, though his eyes danced with silent laughter as he applied yet more gel from a different bottle. "Not polite-so you've noticed something….KID related in my room and you're what? Trying to not investigate?"

"Correct."

He smirked, pulling a towel out of nowhere, though Saguru suspected it had been hiding in his sleeve, to wipe at the first of the creams revealing the skin underneath it unchanged. "I said I had nothing to hide. Tell me. You're not going anywhere any time soon."

That was true. Saguru exhaled, watching as Kaito wiped away another line of cream to reveal his skin unchanged. "For being KID's number one fan…" He said slowly, picking his words carefully. "I find it….odd. That you have no KID merch whatsoever here in your bedroom."

Kuroba paused, eyes darting about the room before he smirked. "Observant."

Well, he had asked. "I am a Detective, Kuroba-kun."

"Mmmm. And I suppose you have a ton of detecting stuff in your room?"

Kuroba would know. Though Saguru had no physical proof his classmate had ever entered his house. "Yes. I do in fact. But you have said multiple times you are a magician and the only…" Saguru tried to not grimace. "The only KID or non KID related _magician_ thing I can see right now…" He tilted his head towards the wall. "Is that portrait you have there. It's...odd. And I'm-" He exhaled, staring down at his arm and still blue skin. "I'm trying to not question it because that would be...rude since I am a guest here, to try and…" He shook his head. "You are helping me, Kuroba-kun. I'm not-" His mouth twisted. "I don't want to-I just can't help it."

"A detective sees a mystery and needs to solve it." Kuroba said softly. "I'm familiar enough with the concept, you've prattled about it in class often enough."

Saguru raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that you were listening." Of course, he figured Kuroba had been. Even if his eyes would glaze over whenever a case not involving KID was brought up, Kuroba had proven time and again that he knew more than he appeared to. "After all, not all my cases involve your precious Kid-sama."

Kuroba snorted, slightly shaking his head. "Precious, huh?" He said under his breath as he pushed up his long sleeves to the elbow before grabbing another bottle of gel.

That tone. Despite himself, Saguru leaned forward, careful to not disturb the tinctures Kuroba had smeared on his arm. "Is he not?"

Kuroba was much slower at wiping away the third cream, again revealing Saguru's skin unchanged. "Did you know?" He asked, carefully applying more gel to the spot. "That I was just like you-well not exactly like you." Kuroba looked up, smirking. "You're too boring Hakuba, but I didn't like KID when he first reappeared either."

Huh? Saguru blinked, raising his eyebrows. "You...but-in class!" From his very first day in school with the magician, Kuroba had spoken nothing but KID's praises. To hear that he hadn't liked KID when he _was _KID-that-how was that possible?

Kuroba chuckled, though his eyes held no laughter now. "Honestly, I had no idea the guy existed until Aoko told me about him the day after his first heist...I was offended by KID actually."

"You were?" In all his research-Saguru had never known this fact. Aoko hadn't brought it up at all when he'd questioned her about her childhood friend.

Kuroba nodded. "Of course. How could anyone consider a _thief_." His eyes flashed at the word. "To be the best magician in the world, especially after all Aoko knew about my Father?"

Father. Kuroba Toichi. A famous magician who had died nine years earlier, leaving his wife and son behind.

Kuroba shook his head, wiping at the other creams on Saguru's arm one at a time, checking to see if they'd altered his skin. "I told her that day I would prove KID was nothing but a two-bit wacko con man. That I was the better magician and catching him would be a walk in the park." His mouth twisted. "She was rather bitter when I came back after that second heist proclaiming myself as his number one fan and that I no longer wanted to catch him."

"It does seem...a rather odd change of heart." Saguru said slowly, staring down at his blue arm. If what Kuroba said was actually true. He'd have to confirm with Aoko at a later date. But if it _was_ true. And that Kuroba wasn't just acting for Aoko's sake...then that first heist had been-That Kuroba had met-

_A third phantom. _

One who'd somehow been convinced to stop holding heists after Kuroba went to confront them.

Sure, Saguru had noted a couple of inconsistencies in those first two heists compared to the latter ones. Like the wearing of a wooden mask over his face when confronted by the police. But the thought had never crossed his mind that Kuroba hadn't been the one to instigate KID's return. That another had been involved.

He looked up, watching Kuroba as the magician worked. What exactly had happened at KID's second heist? "Did you even go see KID that night?"

Kuroba raised an eyebrow. "Of course I went. I told Aoko I would catch him didn't I?"

"Did you?"

His classmate grinned, smearing lotion on his skin. "If Nakamori-keibu can't catch him, and you can't catch him, what makes you think that me, a simple magician, could?"

"Because a _simple _magician, as you say, doesn't think in the same way as us detectives do."

Kuroba had proven that time and time again. After all, KID had stayed one step ahead of the police for nearly every heist. Always managing to escape. To wiggle his way through and out of every trap set for him.

"A good thing too. Your lives are so boring compared to mine."

"Boring." Saguru repeated with a soft scoff. "Are you serious-"

"Never." He winked.

Saguru rolled his eyes. "Liar." He'd seen Kuroba be serious. In the moments when his classmate thought no one was watching.

"Magician actually. Not the same thing."

He exhaled. At this point it would probably be best to drop the argument. "So…" Because now Kuroba had him intrigued and like his classmate said, he couldn't leave a mystery unsolved. "What happened that night, Kuroba-kun? What made you change your mind about KID?"

Kuroba shrugged a shoulder, a careful wariness shining in his eyes. "What makes you decide that one suspect is the culprit when you originally thought it was another?"  
That was easy. "New information came to light." His breath caught. "New information came to light." He repeated softly.

Kuroba gave the faintest of smiles. "Bingo."

But if new information came to light...and that resulted in Kuroba taking over as KID instead of capturing him, because Saguru was certain that his classmate was the phantom thief now even if he hadn't been in the beginning-He frowned, resting a hand on Kuroba's arm to stop him from adding more creams that obviously weren't working as he met the magician's eyes.

"What did you learn?" He asked, keeping his voice low. And _why _was Kuroba choosing to reveal all this to him now?

For the first time, he saw doubt enter the magician's eyes. A slight twitch from the corner of his mouth, his shoulders lifting a fraction of an inch in defense. Kuroba ducked his head, staring at Saguru's hand on his arm, staying silent.

Saguru narrowed his eyes. Kuroba had brought him here for a reason. Didn't do anything without cause. He too looked down to his blue hand, resting on Kuroba's bare arm since he'd pushed up the sleev-wait.

There. A tinge of blue barely visible at the crook of Kuroba's elbow.

"Pardon me." He whispered, leaning forward to push the sleeve up further, revealing a partial blue handprint on the magician's arm before Kuroba could move.

A hand print that-He placed his own hand along the mark, ignoring how Kuroba tensed. Saguru's breath caught in his throat as his fingers lined up perfectly.

A match.

The odds of Kuroba having a _blue _handprint on his arm the same _shade _as Saguru's skin in the exact same _spot _where he had grabbed onto the officer when getting out of the vat was-

Impossible.

Which meant Kuroba had been in London, disguised as a police officer, while Saguru was there. Why? How?! KID hadn't announced a heist and no one had indicated that Kuroba had also been gone at any point in school today. Why then did-? He looked up, biting back the questions on the tip of his tongue.

Saguru would have never seen this if Kuroba hadn't pushed up his sleeves in the first place. He could have easily kept the mark hidden by keeping his sleeves down, meaning that revealing this mark….was intentional.

A test.

To see how he would react?

React to the possibility that Kuroba had been there...as KID? Even if there had been no heists announced while they were both in London?

Saguru licked his lips, slowly pulling his hand back as he looked up into Kuroba's face. A face that once again had the blank mask pulled on, revealing nothing of what his classmate was thinking.

The handprint on his arm was only a partial. The edges jagged. An inconsistency with how Saguru had held onto the officer's arm in London. But made perfect sense if it meant that Kuroba had already figured out a cure. Had one ready to use.

Which also meant that there had been no need to test the creams and gels on Saguru's arm if Kuroba already had the answer to getting rid of the dye. Which meant there was no reason for the blue handprint to be there unless Kuroba had purposely left it for Saguru to find. Which meant that Kuroba could have, for all intents and purposes, cured him at school along with his classmates and had chosen not to. Had chosen to bring Saguru here. To his house. Into this room.

Why?

Saguru slowly exhaled. "I suppose." He said, searching for the right words to use, to not launch into questioning his classmate then and there. "I owe…someone." Because he didn't know just _who _Kuroba had been. Himself or KID? "My thanks. For saving my life in London?"

Kuroba's tilted his head a fraction of an inch in acknowledgement, the tension in his arm under Saguru's hand vanishing, leaving him with the impression that he had managed to pass at least part of this odd test his KID suspect was putting him through.

"And as part of this...thanks." Saguru rested his hands in his lap, studying Kuroba's body language for any hint of what was wanted of him. "Am I being asked to...not solve this mystery you're dangling before me about KID and your actions that night of the second heist? Or to solve it?" Because he really wanted to know just _why _Kuroba had chosen to be KID especially if he wasn't the one to trigger the phantom thief's reappearance.

Kuroba moved, taking Saguru's arm and carefully wiping down his arm. "You're being asked…" He said softly, looking up to meet his eyes. "In exchange for removing your blueberry color." He pulled the towel back, revealing a single stripe of normal colored skin on Saguru's blue arm. "For your assistance in the near future."

Saguru's heart skipped a beat, his mouth going dry as he ran his fingers over the patch, establishing that it wasn't a trick and that the dye had actually left his skin. "My help? I'm guessing not as a detective. An accomplice?"

Kuroba huffed a laugh, shaking his head. "So quick to assume you're being asked to break the law."

"Isn't that what-" Saguru cut off, pinching the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. He didn't know if this favor was for KID or for Kuroba. Even if he thought both were the same person he hadn't yet seen Kuroba break the law. Which meant this favor could be relatively harmless.

Or it could be breaking the law.

But if it meant not being blue...would he be okay with doing that? "What is being asked of me then?" He asked, noting that Kuroba hadn't indicated just _who _was doing the asking.

"Something happened that second heist." Kuroba said softly. "Something that meant I changed my tune. Came to support KID instead of chasing him."

Something that made Kuroba become the thief instead of catching him. "You want me to stop chasing KID?"

Kuroba shook his head. "You will be expected to act normally in all aspects of your life, Hakubaka. That is the key. For no one to suspect you."

Saguru looked up. "To act normally." He repeated, a bad taste in his mouth. So what? KID could use his face in a heist? "That hardly seems like a favor."

Kuroba exhaled, running a hand through his hair before pushing his sleeve back down as he glanced to the painting on the wall, the corners of his eyes creasing. "In a future moment...you will be asked to not return something given to you at a heist. If this occurs….and…" He took a breath meeting Saguru's eyes. "And I…"

Saguru's eyes grew wide. Was Kuroba-

"Do not show up to class within the week afterwards. You will need to leave." Kuroba kept eye contact. "Take it and go somewhere that no one would suspect you to go. For this item once found...it cannot be returned and those who seek it...will be furious to not have it. They will not be afraid to kill those who get in their way."

_Kill _those who seek it? So Kuroba-KID was trying to find something before someone else did? Was that why he kept returning all the other jewels? It wasn't the one that these...murderers were wanting? Saguru drew in a careful breath, heart pounding in his ears as he stared at Kuroba. "If you do not return-"

"Leave it to Nakamori to find me." He said simply. "Your priority will be protecting what is given to you." Kuroba gestured, a shampoo bottle appearing in his hand. "For it cannot, under any circumstance, land in the wrong hands. If you are able to. Destroy it. It brings nothing but evil."

He sounded so certain. "How do you know?"

Kuroba shook his head, eyes darting to the painting and back. "Do we have an understanding, Hakuba? Your assistance to stop a darker...entity...in exchange for this?" He held the bottle out to him.

Saguru bit the bottom of his lip, staring at Kuroba. He didn't like it. Didn't like it at all. But this...this hinted at something bigger going on. A dark plot in the underground that Kuroba-KID was attempting to prevent. "Why me?"

"Because you've proven you can be trusted." He said simply.

Trusted. Saguru exhaled, shaking his head. "I don't like this. But if it helps." He took the bottle. "Just promise me this, Kuroba-kun. That you'll come back alive."

Kuroba winked. "Go take that shower, Hakuba," He said instead, a hint of KID's smirk playing on his face. "I don't think KID would like it if his Tantei-san remained blue forever."


End file.
